Book Review: You Are The Best Wife by Ajay Pandey

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“There are two kinds of personalities. Some have everything and still complain as if they have nothing. And some lose everything and act like life has given them everything. Sometimes both these personalities exist in the same soul. Kill the first one, I love the second.”

It’s quite a challenge to review or discuss non-fiction, at least for me. In a way, I suppose, I’d rather go away from reality in fiction rather than experience another’s a reality through words. Reading realistic fiction is tricky then because, on one hand, it reads like fiction, but on another, it is the reality of someone after all.

Introduction:

Author Name: Ajay Pandey

Genre: Non-fiction

Language: English

True love stories and college stories are quite common in the Indian market. But I must confess that, though this falls in the most common genre, this book is unique. I loved this book for many reasons. Autobiographical books are always prone to conflict of interest, but I must say this one is an exception. I have a feeling that this is the most honest book I have ever read.

When I read the prologue, it gave me a melancholic feeling. I made up my mind that this book is a tragedy. But I must say, this book is about the alchemic power of love. Ajay was selfish and miser, who always thought about himself. Bhavna is a benevolent and adorable person who is not difficult to fall in love with. Ajay then experiences the magic of love – Magic that transforms him into a completely different person.

The book starts with a glimpse of the author’s college life, which is humorous and refreshing. The initial few pages were nothing but college life, giving you the image of typical college life. Then comes love which is simple and beautiful. The rest of the book deals with the struggle - struggle for love, struggle for life.

About the Author:

Ajay K Pandey grew up in the modest NTPC township of Rihand Nagar with big dreams. He studied Engineering in Electronics at the IERT (Allahabad) and MBA at IIMM (Pune) before taking up a job in a corporate firm. He is currently working with Cognizant, Pune. He grew up with a dream of becoming a teacher, but destiny landed him in the IT field. 

Travelling, trekking, and reading novels are his hobbies. Traveling to different places has taught him about different cultures and people, and makes him wonder how despite all the differences, there is a bond that unites them. Trekking always inspires him to deal with challenges like a sport. Reading is perhaps what makes him feel alive. You are the Best Wife is his debut book based on his life events and lessons.

About the Book:

The book is, being realistic fiction, very emotional. And given the context, I can understand that. For the author, to write about the woman he loves (d), after going through that loss, it would be difficult. I’ve always believed in the therapeutic power of words, and I guess the author would have believed in that as well. Through this book, he continues that true love story. 

When the writing is so close to the heart, the story would read more like non-fiction, almost as if the author is just talking to us. And the style of writing reflected that well. There wasn’t any high vocabulary or anything; it was narrated simply, and without beating around the bush.

Ajay believes in living for himself; Bhavna teaches him to live for others. Ajay is a planner for life; Bhavna makes him live in every moment. You are the Best Wife is a story of two people with contradictory ideologies who fall in love. It changes them for good. It changes the way they look at the world and the way the world looks at them. Until destiny reveals its plans. 

This is a truly inspiring story of the author and his struggle with life after his beloved wife left him halfway through their journey. But her last words, ‘you are the best husband’ gave him the strength to live on, and fulfill his promise of love. Told with frankness and doses of humor, this heart-warming tale of a boy and a girl who never gave up on their love in face of adversities ends on a bittersweet and poignant note as Ajay comes to terms with the biggest lesson life has to offer.

You are the Best Wife - a title that can sound both moving and cheeky. I took one look at the cover and loved the symbolic nature of that. The cover has been beautifully split into three parts - the topmost part having the image of a couple and an overexposed graph of a heartbeat. I aptly assumed that this part signified the author's life and his memories with his loving wife. 

The middle part, the title, is written in a simple, straightforward font and as I would later know, just like the tone of the book. The third part, the image of writing and a pen symbolized, at least to me, that the author had wanted to show via this cover that he decided to write down his life experiences with his loving wife and the story in the middle is the connection.

Maybe I am reading too much into the cover image, but this is one of the most relevant cover images I have known in recent times, and the reader in me couldn't help but rejoice at it. The book was printed on normal inexpensive paper in the usual font. But that is not a deterrent in reading this amazing story.

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My Review

You are the Best Wife - a heartfelt, true story of a couple in love. True stories cannot be reviewed and rated like normal ones - this is why I shy away from the Non-Fiction genre. Truth sometimes can be stranger and much more beautiful can whatever fiction our imagination might come up with. Truth can be fascinating and also liberating. 

And this is a book by a husband who loves (d) his wife and continues to fondly recollect the time he spent with his loving wife. Everyone has different ways to express pain, loss, and grief. Some do it by moping, some do it by moving on with difficulty. And then others show it by writing them down as books and forever immortalizing the person and the love. 

Ajay K Pandey has poured out his heart, no doubt. But since he has written it as a book and published it, and I am obliged to review the book, not the story. So the following review is for the book, not the content. The writing style was simple, straightforward, and lacked all the extra elements required in fiction. While this was not a deal-breaker for me, there are a few points I would have to mention. 

The story is heartfelt. The author speaks of his love, his struggles to get married to the love of his life, and the subsequent happy married life. He speaks of the shock, the pain, and the loss, too, of losing a loved one. It is wrong to call this a 'story'. It is his life experience and he has done justice to it yet kept it decent.

If you love romances, love stories from the heart, this is the book for you. Fans of other genres will find little to interest them here. Good attempt by a husband to immortalize his wife's memories.

My rating for this book is 4/5

You can buy this book easily from Amazon: You are the best Wife

Written By – Prachi Mann

Edited By - Anamika Malik